Strawberries and socks

Today Jenny and I went strawberry picking in Greenbluff. We went early in the morning before it got too hot. I'm glad we did. I think it is already around 85 degrees out now! The strawberries were only .99 cents a pound and we each got around seven pounds. I always think I am not getting enough and then end up with way more than I need! Jenny and I each made a batch of 5 1/2 jars of freezer jam at her house before she started feeling kind of bad. I am at home now and will probably try to use up the other 9 jars I have here. I'm sure I will have plenty of strawberries leftover after that even! That's ok, both John and i like to eat them!

When I got home from Jenny's house, I had a package from Julie waiting for me! They are the cutest little socks that I've seen. They are baby socks that are made to look like little mary jane shoes! They came in 6 colors. They are even packaged cute.

Well, that's about it for today. I think I will try to start making some more jam before these berries get over ripe!

Furniture

I ordered the crib and dresser! I'm so happy to have that over with. I have been checking jcpenny.com to see if the stuff went back on sale, and finally when I looked this morning it was! That, plus it was free shipping! I know that saved us a lot of money too. We are having it shipped to the store where it looks like we will be able to pick it up in 4-7 days! Here are links to the dresser and crib. I got them in the antique white color. They got pretty good reviews, it looks like a lot of people didn't like the dresser because of all the assembly involved, but that is what John is for! ha ha!

Also, I signed up for a childbirth class next month. It is actually a natural childbirth class, but the prepared childbirth class is 8 hours, usually split into different days. I just didn't have the time for it, plus I heard from others that most of it is a waste of time (how to care for babies, etc.) My co-worker and I got special permission to get into this class since the prepared class is a pre-requisite for the natural childbirth class.

I feel like I'm finally getting stuff done now! Oh and John and I were going to order our blinds but the color we liked is no longer online. So I ordered MORE samples so we can re-decide what color we like. I paid to have overnight shipping of the samples so we can do that this week too. The house is finally coming together!

baby pics

Well like I said before, I officially booked the photographer to take Olivia's pictures some time in the first 10 days after she is born. I am still so excited that I found someone so good and affordable! After we scheduled that, she said a maternity session would only be an addition $25. I wasn't planning on doing pregnancy photos, but for that amount of money, who could pass that up? She has some examples of her work on her web site and they are all really nice. We are going to meet at a spot near the river on Monday July 20th. I'm hoping I "pop" a little more in the next month, but I also want to take them before I get too big and uncomfortable. I will be 7 months then. Certain clothes seems to make me look bigger too so I will have to see what I like.

Here is a link to her site again. Her pictures are so good!

I'm already tired

and its only 7 am and I have to stay up and work all night! John went to work SUPER early this morning to finish a job he couldn't finish last night. He went to work at 3am (after we went to bed at 11pm). Sometimes I don't know how he does it! I called him when I finally got up at 530 am. I had been awake since a little after 5 tossing and turning. Olivia would not stop kicking me, which is nice when I'm awake, not so great when I'm trying to sleep! I only wish John would've been home so he could see how crazy she was going for over 1/2 hour! So anyway, I guess Olivia had a different idea of what I should be doing at 5 am. John did say he could tell I wasn't sleeping very soundly at 3 am, so maybe I didn't sleep good most the night, who knows. I will definitely be trying to take a nap at some point this afternoon!

It feels so weird going back to work after having 8 days off. In a way I am looking forward to it, to get more social interaction and to get out of the house. I was literally going crazy I was so bored yesterday. I think I was tired too. I ended up taking a nap yesterday afternoon too. Maybe that will just be my new thing.

Well, I hope everyone has a good weekend. I will be sleeping during the whole thing! It has been nice having all these days off, I just wish I was able to spend more time with John. It's hard when he is working so much, but I know its so we can save up for him to take a little time off in October!

6 months!

Weeks 25-28 (month 6): Eggplant

Let your spouse put an ear to your belly -- he might be able to pick up baby's heartbeat (no stethoscope required). Inside the womb, the formation of tiny capillaries is giving baby a healthy pink glow. Baby's also soaking up your antibodies, getting the immune system ready for life outside the womb. Eyes are forming, and baby will soon perfect the blink -- perfect for batting those freshly grown lashes.

more kicking

Olivia only seems to kick up a storm when I am laying down either right before bed or right when I wake up. Last night she was kicking especially hard, so I had John feel. Usually when I tell him this, she stops kicking right then. This time she had a couple more kicks in her. John didn't think it was her since it was SUCH a big movement, he couldn't believe it! He also got to see the way it made my belly move. He had to keep asking if it was really her or me just moving. I had to assure him that it was all her! He was pretty excited after me actually saw her kick. He actually said it was probably the coolest thing he had seen in his life.

Oh and I don't think the picture above is really real, it has to be photoshopped.

walking on the beach

John and I got home late last night from a fun weekend in Seattle. It was busy and required a lot of sitting in the car/driving! I can never get over the wonderful Seattle traffic. Sunday morning before we left Vashon, John, my mom and I took the dogs for a walk on the beach. It was fun to see George run like crazy and drink salt water, and watch Martini walk as carefully as he could along the rocks. After George was done, he had some cuts on his pads, but careful Martini was cut-free! George is also limping a little this morning. He sure loves to run! Here are some pictures from our walk:

This is a painting on the side of an abandoned house along the beach that some people decided to put a tent inside and make their home! And below is our view from the car waiting for the ferry on the way home.

oh and on a different subject, I have the photographer that I mentioned previously scheduled for sometime after Olivia is born! (within the first 10 days) She is super nice and even has a deal on maternity photos, where the session would only be $25! I will probably do it since it is so inexpensive, and if they don't turn out too well, I'm not out much money.

Well, gotta go. The house is looking like a tornado hit it and I'm sure John would appreciate me doing some stuff around the house. I decided I'm going to work on cleaning/organizing the closet today. If it looks decent I may take a picture to show everyone. Have a good day!

photography

Every so often I look for newborn photographers in our area online. I have found a few I REALLY like, they just happen to cost a ton of money. I think I may have just found a winner. I absolutely love her pictures, they are the style I really like, and she seems pretty affordable! I actually found her website through craigslist which said she is new to the area and is offering 25% off prints! I think if we end up doing photos, I would like to get a digital copy of the cd though. It is an investment for sure, but Olivia will only be little once, and it will be nice to have some professional pictures to look back on.

Here is her website so you all can see some examples of here of her work.

the last week and a million pictures

Well before I started this 4 day stretch of working, John and I had a nice weekend of garage sailing, hanging pictures around the house, and just hanging out. Here are some pictures!

Here is a cool toy I got for Olivia when she gets older. It is made out of wood and is heavy. It was only $5! There is something to do on all sides of it. It reminds me of those toys in doctor offices.

The next day before I took my nap to get ready for work, we decided to hang pictures around the house! It already is looking nicer with a few things on the walls. The painting from my grandpa is hanging in the upstairs bathroom, I couldnt get a good picture of it. Then I decided I wanted a big heavy picture in sort of an awkward spot. John said it would be no trouble at all to hang it, but he made me nervous balancing on a ladder on the stairway leading to the basement! Here he is making the perfect measurements.
Here he is getting the ladder ready

Finishing up the measurements

And above it is all hung!

And some other pictures from around the house...

And around the yard... Now you can see it mom!

And lastly, a couple pictures from my 23rd week of pregnancy.

And that's about it! I'm so glad to be off of work now for 8 days in a row! The last 4 nights at work have been pretty hard, so I'm looking forward to having sometime to relax. John and I are off to Seattle this weekend too, so that should be fun!

24 weeks

Here is some info on Olivia this week:

Week Twenty Four: Practices breathing

You are 24 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 22 weeks)
The child is now gaining around 3 ounces (90 grams) a week.
Baby weighs about 1.3 pounds and is 12 inches long.
Baby weighs about 600 grams and is 30cm (crown to heel) long.
The eyelids can be seen very clearly.
If born at this stage is officially considered viable, they may well be able to survive.Your baby is producing surfactant. This is stuff that keeps the small air sacs in our lungs from collapsing. The unborn baby is covered with a fine, downy hair and the skin is protected by a waxy substance. Some of this substance may still be on the child's skin at birth at which time it will be quickly absorbed. The baby practices breathing by inhaling amniotic fluid into developing lungs.Baby gains about 3 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs. The body begins to fill out with his appearance increasingly becoming more like a newborn. Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing his or her distaste. Little creases have appeared on his palms. The muscular coordination of the hands has improved as they sucks their thumb. Over the next week or so, the sweat glands will be forming in the skin. The lungs are developing branches of the respiratory tree and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily. After this week your baby is officially considered viable. 36% of babies can survive premature birth at 24 weeks - However, serious complications are still possible. Baby now weighs about 1.3 pound (600gm) and is around 12 inches (30cm) long.

Kicks

Well I'm currently at work and have a small break while my crabby baby sleeps. The other day I found a fetal doppler on craigslist and thought it would be fun to hear Olivia's heartbeat any time I wanted to. John and I met the couple selling it and quickly bought it. It has been pretty fun! She wasn't to consistent in her movements/kicks and it was nice knowing that she was still ok in there. Of course a couple days after I bought it, she has been kicking like crazy! John has got to feel her now too, so that is exciting! She doesn't kick super hard, so when I know she is kind of active I have him feel and turn off the tv to pay attention! I think if I ever see him in the next couple days (it feels like forever) that he could probably feel her better. In fact I have been sitting in the rocking chair in here quite a bit tonight and she has been kicking, so much in fact I swear I could see my belly move when she kicked after I pulled my shirt tight. I will have to see if John can see her move from the outside tomorrow night. Well, my shift is halfway over and I can't be more happy about it! And double happy that my crabby baby has been amazingly calm tonight. Someone likes me tonight!

Tired.

I am just about out the door to go to to my last night of work this week. 4 nights in a row. With the crabbiest baby in the unit. It's been a long week! Also, I haven't seen John since Monday and it's Wednesday night now. I won't see him until tomorrow night. Weird. I will be so glad to have this week over with! In other news, Olivia is technically "viable" now. That means if I were to give birth, she would have a chance at survival in the outside world. Of course she would be in the NICU for a long long time, but it's nice to know that at this point she would have a chance. I don't want her out now though, she needs to finish cooking!

We started

Last night John got home early and we headed up to Babies R Us. It was pretty fun to go up and down the aisles scanning things we thought we would need/use. The worker at the store said we should aim at registering for 180 things. That is CRAZY! We were both tired and though we registered for plenty when it reached around 60 things. Anyway it isn't totally complete since I still need to decide on a car seat/stroller combo, but I think we got a lot of good stuff on there. We need a pack and play for our room, since she will be sleeping in our room for a while in the beginning. The one I registered for has a newborn napper and a changing table on it, which I have read are both really great when they are young. I think it will be convenient for John and I to take care of her in the night is she is close by. I also wanted to get an activity jumper thing, and of course all of them are kind of tacky and bright. Oh well.... That is probably what our house is going to turn into soon- tacky and bright baby stuff everywhere!

Right now I am starting on a target registry too. I know not everyone has access to babies r us, but target is pretty much found everywhere. I am probably going to register for similar things at both places. If I get double, I can always return for store credit or something, no big deal! I'm just doing my target one online right now, so I'm guessing a lot of the stuff will be available online only. I will haveto go to the store sometime and find stuff that they actually have in person that I like!

Registry

I think if John gets off early enough tonight, we might go up to babies R us and start our registry. I'm still not entirely sure about the car seat/stroller combo I want, but I am definitely leaning towards the Chicco cortina system. A friend at work has one and really likes it. Here is what it looks like:

I think we will probably register at Target too, but not sure when we will do that. Maybe I could just do it online... I don't know.

I got a ton of clothes again this past weekend at garage sales. She is going to very well dressed! I have been trying to keep up on washing it all and putting it away according to size. Now I have a lot of laundry to do!

How big is baby?

Weeks 21-24 (Month 5): Papaya

Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop.

I may have found it.

I couldn't copy the picture, but here is the link to it. I found it on JCPenny.com. It's more than I wanted to spend, but nto $800 at least!

http://www2.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=62438&CatID=62709&GrpTyp=PRD&ItemID=15cd878&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=62438%7c62702%7c62709&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=14&cmVirtualCat=&CmCatId=624386270262709

I will have to show it to John, but I'm sure he will like it.

Ugh.

Looking for cribs is frustrating. I found the perfect crib- at least in my mind. Perfect except for the price tag. Why does it have to be $800? UGH!

There are no ugly exposed bolts on the front, solid rails, a taller back like John wants, converts to a toddler bed and full size bed later and a nice drawer underneath! I haven't read any review on it yet, but as far as looks go it is perfect!

Here is another one I found that I like. It's about 1/2 the price as the above one. It's not quite as cute, but it is a lot cheaper.

Anyway I keep looking and looking at the same websites over and over expecting something to jump out at me. I guess it's like when you look in the fridge to see if something new has appeared that looks good to eat. I don't think it ever does though.

Deals, Deals, Deals!

Over the last few weeks I have been getting tons of deals on baby stuff! Lots and lots of clothes from garage sales- some still new with tags! Just 2 days ago I found crib bedding from pottery barn on craigslist for $80! That's a lot cheaper than most crib bedding, and definitely a lot cheap than pottery barn! The funny thing is, it's the same bedding that Madeline had for a toddler bed, so Julie has some accessories for it I can have too! So here are some pictures of the awesome deals I have gotten lately:

First is my super awsome rocking chair for kids that looks really retro. Don't look at the blue spot- that was the price sticker. It was $20, but I got it for $15!

It's in super good shape and looks really well built.

Here are some Clothes I got at that same sale. I think my grand total was $21 for everything including the chair. The clothes aren't newborn size, but they will work at some point! There is a cute owl sweater, an Oshgosh hooded sweatshirt, a sleeper and 2 onesies.

Jenny and I went garage sailing the next day, and the very first sale we went to was definitely the best! I Got all this stuff that day though, and I don't think I spent over $15. All deals on perfectly good clothes makes it hard to buy anything new! Here they are:

They are hard to see but there a ton of onesies, some shirts, sleepers, dresses... a little bit of everything! I also got myself a maternity tank top and a cute shabby chic old quilt for $2! I especially like these tiny shoes I got though:

Martini really wanted to be in the picture too, so here he is posing with the new clothes:


Last but not least, here is the bedding I found from a really nice girl on craigslist. It is called sweet strawberry, and it is from pottery barn. I saw some on ebay, and it's still selling for hundreds of dollars for less pieces!

And a close-up so you can see the pattern a little more. This is of a cute quilted pillowcase. It still has the tags attached!

I got an entire set for $80, some of it is used, but I got: a quilt, 3 fitted sheets, the quilted pillowcase, crib bumper, mobile, duvet cover (still in package), pillow case (still in package) and this canopy thing she had made with one of the sheets that has tulle and stuff to hang over a bed. I won't be using that, but maybe for a toddler it would be cute! I just looked and it seems like pottery barn actually sells those types of things too. Everything is in great condition, other than the sheets that are pretty well washed. I will probably get some plain sheets to go with. Maybe red, pink and white sets.

Anyway I will leave you with my most recent picture John took of me- I'm as big as a house! Ugh it's hard to look at... I'm not getting that cute little bump that other people get- I'm just getting super wide! Oh well...